Carmack: IPhone Almost As Powerful As Xbox, PS2
If id Software's founder and lead programmer is to be believed, Apple's iPhone is almost as powerful as the the last generation of home consoles, and blows both current handheld contenders out of the water. That jibes with Sega's quote that the phone is as powerful as the Dreamcast, and perhaps goes a bit further, as the Xbox was itself a pretty big leap over Sega's doomed machine. At the same time, he said that although the iPhone would push mobile gaming ahead, he didn't see it as a revolution or a new handheld gaming platform, both because of the customer base and because of Apple's inexperience with gaming in general.
Carmack didn't confirm what he was saying with any, you know, actual games but seems confident they're coming and they will impress. From his own company he promised a "traditional mobile game" is coming soon, but a more graphically intensive game is also in the works. Not mentioned specifically was the Wolfenstein RPG that has come up a few times in connection with the iPhone. I'm hopeful game makers will be able to make the most of the phone and it's unique input the same way many developers eventually figured out the DS, although I wonder if anything can be done about keeping the phone's charge a little more stable. Right now Trism and Aurora Feint eat my battery life like delicious candy, and those are just sliding little blocks around.
Carmack: iPhone more powerful than Nintendo DS, PSP combined [Apple Insider]
[via: Joystiq]
Dawdle
Posted to Video Games on 2 August 2008
· Comments (5)
Other stuff like this: id software, iphone, john carmack, mobile
Name: Dave
until an iphone comes with a dpad, I can't really seriously consider it for games. This ain't Japan.
I think a bigger obstacle than the D-pad thing is the fact that it's still a single-carrier phone that requires a pretty hefty contract. If it's possible to use the iPod Touch with the iTunes store and these games, then yeah, they stand a chance of building a big audience.
I don't really understand what Carmack was saying, though; the Xbox was something like two and a half times as fast as the PS2, so it's kind of like saying "the Wonderswan is almost as powerful as the SNES and Playstation." For that matter, the PSP is already a little more capable than the Dreamcast.
I think what he was really saying was, "We've decided the iPhone presents us with a worthwhile market. Now let me say some technical stuff, because the kind of players who buy our games seem to care about that."
Or: "Look, I can make my butt talk"
Hmmmm, this is like the PSP all over again. Power really isn't everything with a handheld. The more you have the more expensive development becomes. More than that (and what Nintendo really understands) you don't need lots of power for a handheld because sophisticated graphically intensive games aren't really that suitable for a system where the whole point is to pick it up for short periods at a time.
I think they need to put a better battery in there first.